Are we too late?

animaltrack wrote: »

My husband signed up in Dec 2014 to attend an ongoing investment course in London & part-paid £1000 towards the total course cost of £2100. He did not go on to pay the balance as at the time we couldn't afford it & he said he'd pay later. We still can't afford to pay it and he rang them asking if he could have his money back as he has not taken up the course. They have said that is not possible but said he can go on a future course when he pays the balance. Do we have any chance of getting our money back please bearing in mind the period of time passed? I'm not sure whether we could have had our money back initially in any case? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

It isn't the fault of the course provider that your husband has changed his mind about attending the course (nor is it their fault that the reason is that you can't afford it). You can't expect a refund if you change your mind, and I think that the course provider is being generous allowing a future course if the balance is paid. Presumably your husband's place was reserved because he paid almost 50%, meaning that the place could not be offered to another client - so the provider may have actually lost out because of your husband's actions.

I doubt if you could have had a refund even if your husband had asked earlier (unless, possibly, they were able to sell the pace that your husband had reserved), but I think you're darned cheeky to want one now!

George_Michael wrote: »

Only if they can prove that due to the OP's husband not attending the course they have lost money.
If they were able to fill the place on the course then they wouldn't have lost out.

This isn't a damages claim though, it is a debt claim - so there is no obligation on the course provider to mitigate their loss. In legal terms the Op won't get credit even if the place was filled by somebody else (in any event the chances of a course like this being full are pretty low).

Personally I think Op is unlikely to get any money back.